


Distractions

by Sabene4511



Series: So Many Revelations [6]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: AU -Vampire (sort of), Canon-Typical Violence, Multi, Talk of past suicide attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21549943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sabene4511/pseuds/Sabene4511
Summary: An old enemy resurfaces for some more fun and throws everyone off their game.This story takes place roughly 5 months after Jack left, so about June 2019.
Relationships: Angus MacGyver & James MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Angus MacGyver/Desiree "Desi" Nguyen, Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: So Many Revelations [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1380847
Comments: 14
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Holy crap it's been a while! I had such a hard time with this one. So many choices to make and I liked both options for each choice. Then I changed my mind and scrapped half of what I'd written. Anyway, I'm finally back with my next installment! It's twice as long as I had originally planned, but hey. There are a few small pieces I'm not entirely happy with, but let me know what you think in the comments! I promise the next one won't take as long (it was already written before I realized I needed this one! I just have to edit a few things).
> 
> As per usual, I don't own MacGyver or the characters....you know the drill. Mostly self beta'd.

\-------------------------------------

Desi looks across the jet at her charge. Hmm, she probably shouldn’t be calling him that anymore, even in her head. He really has become a partner. Right now, he’s completely lost in thought, staring into space, clearly bothered by something. His fingers worrying yet another paper clip into...something, he doesn’t seem to be paying attention to.

She still hasn’t learned the best way to talk to him. He’s gotten more comfortable with her, but he seems to be resisting it. Like he’s afraid to let her get too close. Just when she thinks she’s making some headway, he backs off again. She’s not surprised. Jack warned her that he has trouble letting people in and she’d have to work for it. She even wonders sometimes if maybe he feels guilty for getting close to her, like he’s betraying or replacing Jack.

“What’s up with you today, Mac?”

He doesn’t even seem to hear her. “Mac? Yo, Mac! Earth to Maaaac!” She waves her hand in front of his face and he blinks like he’s surprised to realize she’s there.

“Sorry, Desi. Just thinking.”

She smiles at him. “Really? Hadn’t noticed.”

He laughs softly and looks down briefly before looking back at her. “What’s up?”

“That’s what I asked you while you were apparently off in la-la land. What are you thinking about so hard?”

“Nothing really. It’s stupid.”

“Not if it’s got you this distracted. What’s wrong?”

“I’m not distracted.” She just lifts an eyebrow. “Well, I wasn’t distracted _in the field_ , was I?” He asks defensively. He knows he wasn’t.

“No, you were fine until you got on the jet. Then I lost you.”

“Then it’s not a problem.”

“Mac, I just want to help...if you’ll let me.”

“I don’t need help. I’m fine. Am I not allowed to think?”  
  
“Of course you are, I just…”   
  


“Good.” He gets up and moves to the front of the plane, leaving her clearly stunned, mouth dropping open. He knows he’s acting childish, but he’s too worried to care right now. He’s just not sure how to put what he’s feeling into words without sounding like he’s nuts. So he just stares out the window and continues to stew.

Thankfully it’s a short flight, but he already feels like a jerk by the time they land. As they prepare to exit the jet, he waits for her. “Hey, Desi?”

“Yeah?” He can tell she’s hesitant to engage, not wanting to set him off again.

“I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” He sees some of the tension ease in her shoulders. “I’m fine, really. Just got some things on my mind right now.”

“Alright. Is there anything I can help with?”

“Not really. It’s just a nagging feeling, it’s hard to explain, but I’m fine.”

She decides not to push and they walk to the waiting car in much more comfortable silence. The ride to Phoenix is also quiet, and Mac just stares out the window again, Desi casting worried glances from the driver’s seat. She wouldn’t be so concerned about him just being stuck in his head if he didn’t have those worry lines crinkling up his forehead. Not to mention that his hands are currently ruining his shirt, stretching and twisting it around his fingers. He’d already used up the stash of paperclips he’d brought, the ones she’d brought and the ones left on the jet.

Heading into the War Room to debrief her partner is still distracted. She hopes he‘ll be able to focus once Matty gets here or he’s going to get an earful. Speaking of Matty, she walks into the room less than a minute after them with Riley and Bozer who had been running things from the War Room during the op.

Matty heads to the front and starts asking questions and it doesn’t take long for all of them to realize that Mac’s head is somewhere else entirely.

“Blondie!” Matty yells right in front of him.

Mac jumps and looks around at everyone staring at him before settling his gaze back on Matty, who’s looking at him clearly worried that she managed to get right into his face without him seeming to notice.

“What’s wrong, Mac?” There’s no heat behind her words, only concern, but there’s no doubt that she expects an answer.

“I don’t know how to…” He sighs and shakes his head.

“No, Mac. You aren’t ducking out of this. Something is bothering you, so just get it out so we can get this debrief over with and we can all go home. It’s been a longer day than you know.”

He looks at her and he can actually see the fatigue in her eyes, a rare sight. Something is bothering her too. So, he decides to just get it over with.

“I feel like something is very wrong and I can’t shake it. Have you heard anything about Jack?”

It’s plain that he’s surprised her. She’s even forgotten to school her expression. Her eyes widen, her eyebrows lift and her mouth drops slightly open. “How…”

“You _have_ heard something. What happened Matty?”

“How do you two _do_ that? How do you always know?”

“What do you mean?”

“He called. When you got hurt last month. Jack called and asked ‘What happened to Mac?’ He didn’t ask _if_ something happened to you, he asked _what_ happened. It’s like some weird psychic connection.”

“So something _has_ happened to him?”

She lets out a shaky breath and closes her eyes. “I was hoping to get more information before I said anything.”

Mac’s breath is starting to quicken. He grabs her shoulders gently and her eyes snap open. “What’s happened, Matty?” He repeats. The others wait anxiously for her answer as well.

“We don’t really know.”

“Matty…”  
  


“I mean it, Mac. That’s why I was hoping for more information. All we know is that Jack disappeared from the motel where they were staying. The rest of the team never heard or saw a thing. He was discovered missing when the rest of them woke up less than an hour ago and no one answered the door to Jack’s room. He was rooming with two other team members and they were out cold. It’s possible they were sedated somehow, tests are being run now but they’re only _just_ starting to investigate, so I have no idea what’s going on yet. There’s no sign of blood or a struggle. So he either left on his own power or someone managed to knock out three highly trained operatives without them fighting back and carry Jack away without alerting anyone else in the motel.”

Mac stands up.

“Where are you going?”

Mac’s face scrunches up in disbelief. “To find Jack, where else?”

“We have no idea where to look, Mac. They won’t tell me where the team is. It’s still a classified op, and they don’t share information they don’t _need_ to. It was a favor that they even told me that he’s gone missing.”

“My best estimate is Azerbaijan.”

“What?” She responds quietly. “Did he tell you that?”

“He doesn’t have to.” He turns to stalk from the room, but Desi steps into his path and he glares at her. “Move, Desi.”

“Mac, you can’t. Let Matty see what she can find out first.” She says gently.

He grabs both of her biceps and just lifts her up. Matty is the only one in the room not entirely stunned by the ease with which he simply turns to the side, puts her down out of his way and walks out of the room.

Riley snaps out of it first and starts to go after him. Matty calls to her. “Riley?”

She stops and looks at Matty. “I know.” Matty narrows her eyes at Riley, and sees true understanding there. _She really does know_. So she nods and Riley leaves. Bozer starts to follow.

“No, Bozer. Let Riley handle this one.”

“But…”

“She and Mac are the closest to Jack. She’ll get through to him easiest right now.”

Bozer looks longingly at the door and then slumps back down onto the chair.

“Matty...how the _hell_ did he just do that to me?” Desi asks.

“He’s very upset right now. Let Riley talk to him and he’ll calm down.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. He just lifted me like I was _nothing_ . And the look in his eyes? I have _never_ been afraid of that man, but I couldn’t even move. I didn’t dare.”

“Just go get some rest. Submit a written debrief in the morning.”

Desi recognizes a dismissal when she hears it and knows she isn’t going to get an answer, so she just shakes her head and walks from the room.

Bozer looks pleadingly at Matty. “You’ll keep us informed?”

“Of coarse. As soon as I find out _anything_ , I’ll let you all know.”

He nods, stands again and follows Desi.

\------------------------------------------------

Riley finds Mac up on the roof, just looking out over the landscape, staring at nothing.

“Not now, Riley.”

“I just want to make sure you’re okay.”  
  
“I’m not.” He turns to look at her and she’s startled to see tears streaking down his face. “I’m not okay at all.”

She walks up quickly and hugs him, her own tears slipping free. They cling to each other for several minutes. Offering the meager comfort of shared misery.

“He’ll be okay, Mac.” She says into his shoulder before pulling back a little to look at him. “You know he will. He’s the best, isn’t that what you told me? That’s why they asked him to lead the task force. Besides, whatever happened out there, they took him _alive_ , Mac. Which means they want something from him. He can hold out for days, you know that. His team probably has way more information than we do. They may already have some idea of who took him and why. Plus, they’re a _lot_ closer and can get to him faster than we can. Jack’s team was hand picked. They’re the best of the best of each country, Mac. If we _have_ to trust someone else to find and save Jack? They’re the ones I would trust.”

“I know, Ri. I know. Still, I can’t just sit here.”

“We don’t have another option right now. If Matty gets more information, then maybe. But at the moment, there’s nothing we can do but wait.”

He takes a deep shuddering breath. “I can head that way and adjust as I get closer.”

“How do you even know where he is?”

“The same way I knew something was wrong in the first place. Please don’t ask me to explain.”

“Alright, but you know Jack wouldn’t want you to go running in blind, not knowing what you’re headed into.” She pulls him back in for another hug.

“And you know that if it was me, Jack would be halfway to the airport already.”

“And you’d be pissed when you found out. As soon as Matty gets _any_ idea what’s going on, we’ll go. Okay?”

Mac holds her tighter to him and just sighs in frustration.

\----------------------------------------------------

The room is spinning, and Jack hasn’t even opened his eyes yet.

“What the hell kind of drinkin’ game was I playing last night?” He grumbles, head pounding.

He tries to lift a hand to his head and his eyes snap open as he realizes he can’t. He can’t move either hand, or his legs. Looking down he sees why -he’s restrained. Full six-point restraints: both wrists at his sides, both ankles, across his knees and across his chest. The light stabs into his eyes and the room spins faster, forcing him to close his eyes to avoid being sick.

He struggles to remember what happened and how he got...wherever he is. The last thing he remembers, he was in some cheap motel he and the rest of the task force had been staying in the last few nights. They’d said good night and split up to sleep, three operatives in each room.

He and his two roommates had laid down, exhausted from the last few weeks and relishing the rarity of sleeping inside for a few nights. Jack isn’t sure he could even count all the bug bites anymore.

No matter how hard he tries, he can’t remember anything after that.

He slowly opens his eyes again, needing to get a look at his surroundings and figure out what to do next. The room is still spinning, but not as badly. He’s stripped down to his boxers and except for himself, the bed he’s laying on and a small table tucked into the corner, the room is empty. It’s bright, but neglected and dirty. The bed is old. The type of basic, mass produced thing you see in photos of old hospitals. In fact, the room has a clinical feel to it. Maybe it’s an abandoned hospital building?

He’s run out of time to figure it out, though. He hears what sounds like a heavy lock on the door and it creaks open slowly. The sight that greets him on the other side sends a shiver down his spine. _Shit!_ He quickly turns his face to stone, hoping she didn’t notice his initial reaction.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in.” He practically growls.

“Hello, Jack. It’s _so_ good to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Hatred boils through him and he doesn’t bother to hide it. “And I’ve heard _more_ than enough about you...Miss Dernova.” 

\---------------------------------------------


	2. Chapter 2

\-------------------------------------------

Dernova saunters into the room, leaving the door open. Jack hears nothing in the hall outside, which looks just as abandoned as the room he’s in and the ones across the way. She sits on the side of the bed and begins slowly tracing the many scars on his chest and abdomen.

“You know, I’m not quite sure what I expected, but it was _way_ easier to get hold of you than I would have thought. Weren’t you supposed to be one of the best?”

He ignores the obvious insult. “And what did you want to get hold of me for? Still playing your sick little games?”

“Not to worry, I’m sure I’ll get back to that soon enough, but that’s not why _you’re_ here. _You_ are here to help me with something...well two things actually.”

“Oh really” He says dripping with sarcasm. “And what would those be?”

“Ssshhh, patience.” She leans sideways, draping herself across him and bending her arm to rest her head on her hand. “First, I want to know, how is my beautiful boy?”

Jack resists the urge to say ‘still beautiful’ and instead responds with “He’s fine, thanks for asking. How’s Sergei?”

Anger flashes through her eyes and a hand suddenly closes around his throat, blocking air from reaching his lungs.

“How dare you speak his name! After what _your_ people did to him!” Slowly, she wills herself calm and releases the crushing pressure on his neck. He coughs a couple times and takes a much needed deep breath.

“Touched a nerve did I? You and your husband have no one to blame for what happened to him but yourselves.” He sees the anger rising in her again and continues before she can act on it. “We talked to Mac’s dad. You two were into human trafficing, kidnapping and selling people into slavery for whoever could pay and he got caught, then decided to fight. He died because of what _he_ did, and Mac’s dad wasn’t even the one who killed him.”

“Is that what he told you?” Her eyebrows shoot upwards and her lips twist into a furious smile. “Allow me to set the record straight for you, hmm? My husband was captured alive because they wanted information on the rest of the organization. He refused to speak, so they tortured him. For almost two weeks, he was burned, drowned, beaten, cut and raped. Dear old James was a part of it.”

“I find that hard to believe.” At her scoff he goes on.”Don’t get me wrong, the man is an asshole. I can’t stand him, and I _know_ he’s capable of some messed up shit. I could even believe him guilty of some _light_ torture under the right circumstances. Hell, I’m guilty of that, truth be told. But prolonged torture? And rape? No. I don’t believe that. Besides, even _if_ he did? It wouldn’t justify attacking and infecting a three year old with some crazy rare disease.”

“Ooooo, my boy remembered! I figured he must have the way you two came flying back to the prison after he and I spoke, but I couldn’t be sure. How I wish I could have seen his face!”

“You’re sick. You have issues with James, fine. Go after James. Why attack a baby?” He asks angrily.

“It wasn’t my intention when I went to the house that day. I had intended to kill James, but then I saw _him_ playing outside and I was suddenly furious that my husband and I would never get to have a child of our own. I wanted James to feel that same anguish. Then, as I held this beautiful child’s lifeless body in my arms, I truly regretted my rash change of plans and I did the only thing I could. I’d never even tried to infect someone before and I had no way of knowing if it would work.

“Then he opened those astonishingly blue eyes. We stared at each other for a moment and then James came out the back door, screaming at me. I released my beautiful boy and ran. James shot at me as I fled, but he missed. I vowed it wasn’t over, that I would haunt James, and I did. I followed him, I watched them.

“I was there, watching my boy play in the yard again, climbing _so_ very high in that tree. I watched as the branch he was on snapped and he fell, and fell, and fell, hitting branches on the way down. I heard the bones break. I’m not sure if it was his neck or his back, but it was horrible. I was about to go to him when his mother came out screaming for him. She’d seen that terrible fall, too. And I watched her die to save him, as any good mother would.”

Jack’s heart broke for his best friend. No wonder he was afraid of heights, he’d fallen to his death in the same incident where his mother died. It’s enough to traumatize anyone, especially a five year old.

“Poor James, he cried and cried. I laughed and laughed. And I kept following him. I know he saw me, more than once. I even left a gift for my boy once on the nightstand by his bed after watching him sleep for a while.” Jack’s blood goes cold. _She was in his room while he slept? Beyond creepy._

“James found it before my boy woke up and never gave it to him. Two days later, he disappeared. He just dropped that beautiful treasure with his grandfather and vanished. I couldn’t find him no matter how hard I tried. He had his friends help him go underground. My rage festered and I went after the rest of James’ _team_. But James never resurfaced until just a couple of years ago.

“Then I saw the video released by ISIS and I couldn’t help myself. I already had my playroom set up and I know what others don’t. Did _you_ know that a bond is formed when one of _us_ drink from one of _you_ ? Science still hasn’t explained it, so most think it’s an exaggeration or an outright lie. They’ve never believed any of us when we told them. Anyway, having tasted a substantial amount of his blood the day I infected him, I can _always_ find my boy. The more I drink from one person, the stronger it is. I _knew_ he survived being shot, I could still feel our bond. So, I immediately had my contacts reach out to those that had him and offered to take him off their hands.”

Jack glares at her. As much as he _really_ doesn’t want to talk to her, maybe he can get Mac some answers. “Still going after him to punish his father...why? James resurfaced, why not go after him then instead of repeating your mistake of attacking the _wrong_ person?”

“I admit, I was curious to see how my boy turned out.”

“Stop calling him that. He’s _not_ your boy.”

“Ah, but he is. I gave him life -after I took it from him, but still. He’s alive now because I chose it. He’s also survived injuries since then that would have killed him if it wasn’t for me. My blood runs in his veins. He is absolutely _my boy_ . I wanted to see the man he’d grown into. I’d only seen him from a distance since the day we met, and we’d _never_ talked.”

“You’re delusional. You can’t _claim_ a child that isn’t yours just because you attacked him, bled him dry and then changed your mind. Sorry honey, but it don’t work that way.”

“So you’re saying you _haven’t_ claimed him yourself?”

“No.”

“Oh, really? I saw you at his funeral. A man who’s lost a friend doesn’t _crumble_ the way you did. He doesn’t go home and shoot himself in the chest over a simple friend.” She traces a finger around the bullet scar from that day, half an inch from his heart. “You have claimed him as a part of yourself, just as I have.”

“Not even close to the same thing.”

She sighs. “Oh, we could argue semantics for ages. How _boring_.” She says with an exaggeratedly dramatic roll of her eyes. “I can think of a much better way to pass the time.” She crawls up onto the bed, straddling his hips and running her hands up his sides and over his chest.

“Whoa, slow down there, sweetheart. Aren’t ya gonna at least buy me dinner first?”

“I don’t think we need anything so romantically formal.” In one swift movement, she slides further down his legs, grabs the waistband of his boxers and tugs them to his knees before he has a chance to even try to stop her. “You might as well enjoy this. It’s going to happen either way.”

“Is that what you said to Mac?” If looks could kill, she’d be dead five times over by now.

“Yes, almost exactly. And he very obediently came for me every time.”

“You twisted little b…” Her hand wrapping around his cock cut his words off abruptly as he bites his tongue to prevent the moan that threatens to force it’s way from his throat. Her slow, tight fist hardening his cock despite him willing his body to stand down.

“Just close your eyes and fantasize about whoever you want. I don’t need your adoration, just your body.”

His eyes roll back and his breath hitches as her lips slide around the head of his cock and down the shaft before rising back up. She sets a steady pace, but only until he’s fully hard.

_God damn she’s good at this. No wonder Mac couldn’t hold back._

She pulls off, swirling her tongue around the tip. Sheer force of will prevents his hips from lifting, begging for more and he just barely manages to stop the needy whimper that accompanies her neglect. She kisses her way up his abs and he hisses in surprise as she bites _almost_ too hard on his nipple.

He realizes that she’s wearing nothing underneath her sundress as she sits up and lines him up with her heat. A startled thought flitters through his mind. _This is new. She never did this to any of her other victims._ Then she sinks down onto and around him, driving all thoughts from his head momentarily.

Seconds later his brain clicks back online and anger boils to the surface. He bucks up hard as much as he’s able with the restraints, catching her off guard and throwing her almost completely off the bed with a startled yelp.

As she climbs back onto him, she leers at him with a smirk. “Well, well. You have some fight in you after all, don’t you.”

“Fuck you.”

She smiles even wider. “That is _exactly_ the idea.” She slices back down onto him, this time bracing her hands on his chest in case he tries it again, and wastes no time setting a quick rhythm. Jack desperately tries to hold himself still and even turn himself off by thinking of the most horrific things he’s ever seen: the bodies of children laying in the streets after their school was attacked by the Taliban for allowing girls to learn; the puppy he had as a teenager after it was attacked by a pack of coyotes; the look on Mac’s face when he told him he was leaving…

His orgasm takes him by surprise, but he feels strangely detached from it. The pleasure courses through him as usual, he feels himself spilling into her and he hears the groan escaping from his own throat. But it’s muted, distant from him like it can’t quite reach him where he is. He’s never experienced such a disconnect between his mind and body. It’s an odd sensation.

“Where did you go, lover?” She asks huskily, breathing already leveled out.

“Anywhere...but here.” He says venomously, still panting

“Oh, come now. It wasn’t that bad.” She responds with a soft laugh.

“Glad...you think so.” Is his sarcastic, yet broken reply as she lifts herself off him surprisingly gently before walking out of the room.

Within seconds, his mind and body are reunited as he realizes _she didn’t close the door!_ He quickly starts working on the restraints, twisting and tugging, but it’s no use. They’re designed to do their job very well. Besides, he can already hear her coming back.

She enters the room with a cloth in one hand and a blanket in the other. She drops the blanket at the foot of the bed and immediately starts cleaning him up. The water on the cloth is freezing and he shivers reflexively.

“No water heater. Just be glad it’s wet.”

“Why are you doing this? What is it you actually want from me?” He asks seriously.

“I want company.”

“Company? Seriously? Why me then? Surely there are lots of men easier to get to. Hell, I’m sure not all of your guards were killed or captured when Mac was rescued. Many of them woulda jumped at the chance. Why take the risk of coming after me specifically?”

“I told you, you’re the only one who can tell me about my boy.”

“Stop callin’ him that.”

“No.”

She finishes cleaning him, pulls his boxers back up and covers him with the blanket up to his chin. “Sleep. You’ll need your strength for round two.” She winks at him, turns on her heel and leaves the room without waiting for any kind of response, bolting the door behind her.

\--------------------------------------------------

Jack does his best to stay awake and alert, but the sleepy haze that always follows sexual release has him fighting to even keep his eyes open. He isn’t sure how long it took him to lose the battle, but his eyes snap open again at the sound of the lock being thrown on the door. It swings wide as she walks back in, hands behind her back.

“Sorry, to wake you, lover. But you’ve been sleeping for hours and I’m kind of on a clock here.”

She walks over to the corner, drawing her hands out as she moves and lays a sheathed knife on the small table there. He simply sighs with resignation -he’d been expecting this.

“Oh, not to worry. I don’t really plan to hurt you -much. And I have something else in mind first.”

She climbs onto him, placing her hands on either side of his head and leans over him. For a moment, he thinks she may actually be stupid enough to kiss him. His lips quirk into an automatic smile at the thought of biting a chunk out of her lip, but she stops _just_ out of reach.

“Is that smile for me?” She asks playfully.

He grins at her with none of the warmth he gives his friends. It’s pure predator he shows her. “You could say that.”

“Shame, shame. What are you imagining?”

“You have no idea how much I would _love_ for you to find out.”

She smiles back at him with her own predatory gaze. “If you’re trying to turn me on, it’s working.” And with no more preamble, she begins -ripping his boxers down, wrapping a hand around his length and quickly stroking him to attention. 

His breathing accelerates as he struggles to retreat into his mind again, but it doesn’t work as well as the first time. She lowers herself onto him again and seems determined not to let him disconnect, digging her nails into his chest when he starts to withdraw.

He doesn’t bother fighting his release, deciding to simply get it over with, but he does manage to remain silent this time, much to her apparent annoyance.

Breathing level, she pulls off him quickly and gets up from the bed, “You really should have stayed with me this time. You look like you could really use a good fuck.”

Attempting to steady his breathing, he pants out; “Even if...that was true... _you_ ...would _never_...be my choice.”

She sounds half angry and half amused as she responds. “Such a horrible thing to say to the woman who is going to bear your child, Jack.”

Shock runs through him and he stops breathing all together.

She actually giggles at him. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you think _you_ were the ‘company’ that I was looking for?” She glares at him. “Please.”

She turns to the table, picking up the knife and removing the sheath. “You were right about one thing: if all I wanted was a man for a short time, there are far easier choices for me. With any luck, you’ve helped me create a much more permanent companion.” She puts the hand not holding the knife over her abdomen.

“You’re crazy.” Still stunned, it comes out as barely a whisper.

She smiles again. “Perhaps.” She climbs back onto the bed, hovering over him. “Time for you to help me with the second thing I need.”

She lifts the knife to his face. He holds very still, bracing for the sharp sting that doesn’t come as she scratches the blade down his cheek, his neck and onto to his chest.

“More games, Dernova? Get on with it.”

“Impatient for death, hmm?” She tips the blade, pointing it directly down over this chest and _slowly_ applies pressure.

He hisses as the blade sinks little...by little...into his flesh. She stops when the blade is just over an inch deep and adds a small twist as she pulls it back out, causing a gasp at the sudden flare of pain. She puts the knife down near his head and presses a finger into the wound.

“I wonder...” She places the bloody finger into her mouth, closing her eyes. His eyes do the opposite, widening as he realizes what she’s going to do. “...should I bring you back when I’m done with you, like I did my boy?”

True fear trickles through him and he slowly shakes his head. “No.”

“You don’t want to live forever? I’d have thought a man like you would be eager for the strength, the stamina, the longevity.”

“Not like this.”

“Ahhh. So you’d take it from _him_ , but not me. I suppose I can respect that. If that’s really your choice...” With no further warning, she lowers her head and starts to drink.

It’s a very different sensation from when Mac drank blood from his wrist. She hardly needs to pull at the blood, allowing it to simply flow freely from him. It also flows faster. He quickly feels lightheaded and dark spots start to form on the edges of his vision. As the room starts spinning faster and the darkness closes in, he closes his eyes and concentrates everything he has on picturing Mac’s face. If he’s truly about to die, he wants it to be the last thing he sees.

\----------------------------------------------


	3. Chapter 3

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The room sways. A boat? It’s too dark to tell, he can’t see anything. He’s nauseous and so, so tired. But he needs to get up because….Why? There’s something important but he can’t quite put his finger on it. Everything feels so heavy. He can’t think. He’s not safe.

Ah, that’s why he needs to get up, he’s not safe. He needs to find out where he is. He looks around, still too dark. Hmm, opening his eyes may help. So he tries that. A blurry room shifts in and out of focus.

Memories crash down on him...Dernova...the old hospital room...the rape...the knife...his blood. He lifts his hand to touch the wound on his chest and in doing so realizes he’s no longer restrained. He tries to look around without throwing up...god he’s so dizzy. His clothes are on the little table to the right, he’s alone…and the door is sitting wide open to the left.

_What’s going on? Is it a trap? Is she done with him and is letting him go? Does she think he’s dead? But then why leave his clothes?_ It doesn’t matter. He needs to get out.

Easier thought than done. He very, very slowly rolls to his right side and tries to push himself up to sitting. He gets barely halfway up when darkness clouds his vision and he slumps back to the bed. Being incapable of such simple exertion is a really bad sign. When his vision clears, he tries again to move, but this time he just slides to the floor by his clothes. He can dress on the floor.

It’s unclear how long it takes him to put his clothes on. He’s sure he passes out once, maybe more. He lays panting on the floor for a few minutes once the ridiculously monumental task is complete. Then rolls over and crawls for the door. It seems to take forever. It’s possible he passes out again at some point. The sunlight is fading from the room by the time he finally reaches the hallway.

_Sunset? Has all this happened in just one day? Or was it two? How long was he out?_

Suddenly, light slices into his eyes and he slams them closed with an involuntary groan, dropping all the way to the floor and curling in on himself defensively while futilely trying to keep an eye on whoever is approaching.

“Jack? Jack, is that you?” He hears a woman’s familiar Australian voice echo down the hall.

_Cavalry's here. Finally._ Now he can let the darkness pull him back under.

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Mac sits anxiously, knee bouncing quickly. Matty is going to be _pissed_ when she finds out about this but…

His ringing phone interrupts the thoughts of possible punishments awaiting him the next time he sees his boss. He pulls it out and looks at the caller ID.

_Shit. How did she know already?_

He hits send and lifts the phone to his ear. “Listen Matty...”

“They found him.” She says without hesitation or even a hello.

Mac’s whole body stills. “They found him? Is he okay? What happened to him? Is he okay?”

“Information is still coming in, but he’s alive at least.”

TURKISH AIRLINES FLIGHT 3854 FROM LOS ANGELES TO ISTANBUL WITH CONTINUING SERVICE TO HEYDAR ALIYEV INTERNATIONAL NOW BOARDING THROUGH GATE 6B

Mac grimaces as the overhead announcement tattles to Matty just what he’s up to.

“Mac...are you at the airport?” He can hear the surprise and brewing anger in her voice.

“I told you I couldn’t sit here and do nothing. What happened to Jack?”

“All I know so far is that he’s alive and being taken to a hospital. Now, get your ass back here while I try to learn more details.”

“I need to know, Matty. I have to see him.”

“Mac,” she says gently. “He’s safe. His team found him and he’s safe. He was missing for less than 24 hours. Come home. We’ll find out what happened.”

“As long as you understand that if the State Department won’t tell us what happened, I _will_ go after him. Even if I have to do it on my own.”

“You won’t have to do it on your own.”

Mac closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Then takes a long look at the passengers boarding the plane that would take him to Jack. He rises and turns away from them, heading away from the gate. “On my way.” He hangs up without waiting for an answer.

\-------------------------------------------

“Were you really about to get on a plane to _Azerbaijan_?” Bozer’s question is halfway out of his mouth before Mac even gets all the way through the door to the War Room. Everybody is here -Bozer, Riley, Desi, Leanna, Matty, even his Dad. Mac looks at each of them before settling his gaze on Matty.

“I transferred the ticket to a flight that leaves tomorrow morning. And I’ll be on it if we aren’t given something.”

“Relax blondie. I’ve got most of the report and I’ll be getting a call shortly with more.” Matty watches the tension ease in him a fraction, but not release and she knows it’s about to ratchet back up when she tells him what’s happened.

“Sit down, Mac.” She orders softly. His eyes narrow but he moves to sit on the couch next to Riley who immediately grabs his hand.

Matty takes a deep breath and begins. “This is what we know so far. Some time during the night, a gas was pumped into the motel room to knock out Jack and his two roommates. Two men then entered the room, put Jack’s arms over their shoulders and dragged him from the room so that when the night clerk at the desk looked at them, they just made a comment about Jack being drunk and said they were taking him home. They loaded him into a vehicle and left.

“They found no leads on what happened to Jack after that until late afternoon. A local man approached a member of the team and said a woman paid him to tell them where their friend was -an abandoned mental hospital three blocks away. The team deployed and found the two men who took Jack on the first floor. They’d been dead for several hours, probably right after they delivered Jack.

“The team proceeded upstairs and found Jack crawling out of one of the rooms. He was barely conscious and lost consciousness almost immediately. His only obvious injury seems to be a small, shallow knife wound in his chest. They’re assuming he was sedated or drugged in some way.”

“Did he say anything before he passed out? Anything about who did this to him or why?” Riley asks eagerly. “Did they find the woman who paid the local guy with the tip or any evidence at the scene?”

“I don’t know, Riley. Those are the questions I’m still waiting for answers to. I know he was air-lifted to a friendly hospital. They were arriving at about the same time I was being told they found him.”

“How long ago was that, exactly?” Mac asks, sounding calmer than he feels.

“About an hour. I was hoping to hear by now, but I’m sure they want to have something to tell us before they bother to call.”

They spend an agonizing 12 minutes and 14 seconds waiting for the promised call. Someone occasionally makes a half hearted attempt at small talk which dies quickly. Finally, the wall monitors come to life revealing a familiar face.

“Sam!” Mac says, smiling as he stands. “I didn’t know you were with Jack.”

“Yeah well, someone has to keep an eye on him. This isn’t a secure line on our end by the way. Sorry, but it’s the best we could do right now. And we’re _extremely_ lucky it’s a video call and not just a standard phone line.”

“Of course. How are you?”

“I’m doing okay. Working hard. It’s great to see you all. It’s been far too long.” Cage’s eyes shift to look beyond Mac. “You must be Leanna and Desi. Nice to meet you, Jack’s told me about you both.”

_“Will you stop yammerin’ Sam and give me that thing already?”_ Jack’s voice comes through clearly, and sounding somehow annoyed, amused and exhausted all at the same time.

Mac visibly relaxes upon hearing him. The last 24 hours of stress bleeding out of him with the realization that Jack really is okay and Riley squeezes his hand comfortingly. Cage rolls her eyes at the screen and starts walking with what is clearly a laptop over towards a hospital bed.

Jack looks as tired as he sounds and he’s incredibly pale, Mac feels his stress level rising again.

“Hey now, hoss. Relax, I’m okay. I lost quite a bit of blood but they’re replacing it.” He holds up his hand to show the IV where he’s clearly getting a blood transfusion.

Cage sits down on the bed next to Jack so she’s in the shot too. “We’re still trying to find out everything that happened. The doctors say he lost a lot of blood, but there was none in the room where we found him and Jack isn’t telling us much. He just keeps saying that he needs to talk to you all.” She half-heartedly elbows him.

Matty takes that as her cue. “Alright then, Jack. What happened?”

Jack takes a deep breath and slowly blows it out through puffed cheeks, buying time. Then looks long and hard at Mac. “Okay first, let me say -I’m fine. Ya’ll hear me? I. Am. Fine. Okay?”

Mac is liking this less and less by the second. “Jack…”

“I’m fine, Mac. I promise. She was alone.”

“She, who, Jack?” Matty asks.

Jack sighs again. He _really_ doesn’t want to say this. “Dernova.”

The reaction is as bad as he feared. Mac’s eyes look like they’re going to bug out of his head. Bozer’s mouth falls open in shock. Riley covers her mouth with a gasp. Leanna, Desi and even James all look clearly worried and Matty is just plain furious.

In his peripheral vision, he also sees Sam’s head whip around to face him. “Wait. You know who did this to you? Even her _name_? And you didn’t think you should tell us?”

“It’s unrelated to us, Sam. It’s the woman who took Mac after ISIS shot him.”

It’s Sam’s turn for her mouth to drop open in shock before turning to Mac on the screen as he bows his head to look at his hands. “I don’t really know what happened to you, Mac. Jack didn’t give me any details, he just said it was really bad. Before I went home after your funeral, I told Matty to let me know if there was anything I could do to help...repay...the ones who killed you. So he _had_ to call me after they found you to tell me you were actually still alive. But he never told me you all had a _name_.” She turns to glare at Jack at the end.

Jack at least has the good grace to look a little sheepish. “I didn’t want you going after her. This bitch is super crazy bad news.”

“All the more reason to catch up with her!”

Mac’s quiet voice interrupted their argument. “You went to my funeral?”

She softens again as she looks at him. “Of course I did, Mac. Anyway, what do we do about this woman?”

Matty takes a breath to answer, but Mac stands and cuts her off. “Nothing.”

Jack looks scandalized. “Mac.”

“No, Jack. You have your own issue to focus on. Let us handle Dernova.” He pauses for a minute and looks at Matty, then the others in the room. He sighs, closing his eyes before looking at Jack again. “If she’s going to start going after the people I care about now, then Sam needs to be read-in. Someone with you needs to know what you may be facing. I’ll read-in everyone here.”

Jack’s widen slightly in surprise. “You sure, man?” When Mac hesitates only a second before nodding, Jack nods back. “It’s your call.”

“I trust her. And them.” He gestures behind himself at the rest of the Phoenix team. “It’s about time I acted like I do. Tell her.”

“Okay. But I still don’t agree with you going after Dernova alone.”

“I won’t be alone.” Mac smiles as he glances behind him.

“You know what I mean, man. I want this bitch just as badly as you do, maybe more. You can’t cut me out. Please, Mac. I’m beggin’ here.”

“You seriously want me to wait? Let her do whatever she’s got planned in her wacked out mind while I sit here and do nothing?”

“I don’t think she’s gonna be doing much of anything for a while.” Jack sighs heavily. “Shit I didn’t want to tell ya’ll this part yet.”

“Tell us what, Jack?” Matty asks warningly.

Closing his eyes and shaking his head he sighs again before answering. “She’s trying to have a baby.”

The whole room is silent and confused, until Mac realizes what he’s saying. “Oh my god, Jack.” Mac looks like he’s breaking and Jack can’t have that.

“I told you I’m fine, Mac, and I meant that. I ain’t exactly thrilled, but sadly enough, I’ve actually had _worse_ sex in my life.”

Sam eyes drop closed at Jack’s admission. “You didn’t tell the doctor about that.”

“There’s nothin’ important to tell.”

“You need to be tested for STDs, Jack.”

“No, I don’t. You’ll understand better when I read you in, but she can’t carry or transmit anything like that. _I’m fine._ ” He turns back to Matty. “Matty, she won’t do anything to risk her chances of getting pregnant.”

“And what if it didn’t work, Jack? If she finds out she’s not pregnant, she’ll try again. And either go after _you_ again or someone else.”

“She won’t know for sure for a couple of months. At least give me that much time.”

Sam's face scrunches up and she looks at Jack like he's lost his mind. "She'll know a lot sooner than that, Jack. Most women would know in less than a month."

"There's extenuating circumstances here though. Even if she gets pregnant, she won't know if the baby will survive. Again, you'll understand more after I read you in."

“I’m not going to pull you from your current assignment for this, Jack.” Matty says.

“Guess I’ll just have to bust my butt to wrap this up faster then.”

“We still have to find her first, and that could take a while. Of course if you could send us your current location in a secure way, we’d at least have a starting point.”

“We can try to do that.” He looks to Mac. “There’s a few things I need to talk to Mac about anyway that I can’t do on this line. Give me a couple of days to get a secure line and I’ll tell him when I call.”

“What kind of things?” Mac can’t help but ask.

“I can’t really say now, but there’s a reason she went after me in particular. I’ll call you soon. Matty, I hate to do this, but that means I need Mac grounded until I can call. I promise I’ll do it as soon as humanly possible.”

“I’ll have him work in the lab for a few days. He could use the down time.” Mac doesn’t look exactly thrilled with the idea, but grudgingly nods his head anyway.

The Phoenix team hears a knock over the speaker and both Jack and Sam look up over the monitor. Jack sighs and looks back at his family on the screen. “Doctor’s here. We gotta go. I’ll call again as soon as I can.”

There’s a jumbled chorus of “Bye, Jack”, “Bye, Sam”, “Take care”, “Miss you”. And the signal is cut, the screen going black. Mac sags slightly, already missing Jack again.

“Matty,” Mac says. “Can I have the room? I need to talk to Desi, Bozer and Leanna for a bit.”

She looks at her watch. “You’ll have a little over an hour. Then I’ll have to run the op in Berlin.”

“That should be plenty of time. Thank you.”

As Riley stands to leave, Mac stops her and pulls her into a hug, whispering into her ear. “You know? About me?”

She returns the hug, whispering back. “Before I even finished reading the unpublished medical paper on the virus that Matty gave me.” She steps back, smiles at him and gently cups a hand against his cheek. She gives a supportive nod and then turns to follow Matty and James from the room.

He takes a deep breath and turns to the three friends looking at him expectantly. “You need to know that what I’m about to tell you...I’ve never told anyone in my entire life. My dad told Matty. Matty told Riley and Jack. Thornton never knew, I guess my dad had reservations about her far earlier than we did. He also hired Janet...Dr. Lewis, my doctor, though I didn’t know that at the time. He told her about this as well so she could learn everything she needed to know to take care of me.”

Bozer is starting to look alarmed. “Wait. Are you sick, Mac?!”

“No. Well, not really. Though, I do have a blood disorder…..”

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	4. Chapter 4

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Mac hangs up the phone. He’d had to wait almost three days for Jack to get a secure line and now he kind of wishes he hadn’t.

Jack had been annoyed that Mac hadn’t told him that he could track him ever since Mac drank his blood...almost three years ago. Mac had to explain that he didn’t tell him because A: He didn’t want to freak him out or think of it as a violation of privacy (which it technically is) and B: It wasn’t really a proven thing. None of the researchers would even entertain the idea.

The one CDC member Mac had told during one of their many interviews over the years had dismissed it as a figment of his imagination and assured him that such a thing wasn’t possible (which rationally, Mac agreed with, but he couldn’t deny the pull he felt). Jack made him try to explain the feeling:

“ _ It’s almost like a magnet and compass. I can feel a pull from the direction you’re in, so I know which way to go. And the closer you are, the stronger the pull. So I can roughly gage the distance. I can’t go to a map and put a finger on your location or anything, but the closer I get to where you are, the more exactly I can pinpoint it.” _

Mac had been close when he’d thought Jack and his team were in Azerbaijan. It was actually eastern Turkey, a difference of about 400 miles. Considering the fact that he was estimating from the opposite side of the globe using only his ‘spidey senses’, it’s rather impressive accuracy.

The other things Dernova had told Jack were beyond troublesome. While it was actually nice to hear that his father  _ might  _ have abandoned him because he was being stalked by a sociopath, not because he just didn’t want to be around his son anymore. It was not-so-nice to find out that his father was being stalked because he supposedly help rape and torture the sociopath’s husband to death.

Mac gets up from the couch in the War Room and heads for Matty’s office. If he’s going to confront his dad about the things Dernova accused him of, he’ll need to talk to Matty first.

The door is open and she’s waiting for him when he walks in. He closes the door behind him and sits heavily in the chair across from her.

“What’s wrong, Mac? Was he not allowed to tell you where they are?”

“Huh? Oh, no I was right. Well close anyway, eastern Turkey, not Azerbaijan. That’s...whatever. I have a different problem. Is this room secure?”

Concern clear on her face, Matty types a few things into her laptop, which then beeps at them. “It is now. What’s going on Mac?”

“Dernova told Jack that her husband was captured alive and tortured for information about the rest of the trafficking organization. She said  _ everything  _ she did to me, and more, was done to her husband. And that my father was part of it. That’s why she went after him and by extension, me.”

She looks shocked and skeptical. “I’m not sure how true that can be, Mac. I can pretty much guarantee you that if, and I stress  _ if _ , he was taken alive and tortured, your father would  _ not _ have participated in the rape at the very least. I probably shouldn’t tell you and I’m sorry to have to say it, but your father is rather homophobic.”

Mac is clearly stunned and hurt by the news, but she continues knowing that he deserves to know. “He hides it  _ very _ well and for the most part he doesn’t have a problem with what other people do. But he would  _ never _ touch another man like that, not even as a demonstration of power or dominance, or as a way to extract information.”

Mac still looks shell-shocked and she barely hears him whisper. “Homophobic.”

She continues softly. “The fact that you’re bi and have dated men is...a bit of a sore spot for him, but he’s trying, Mac. He’s trying, for you, to let go of that prejudice, but it’s not an easy thing to unlearn. Still, there’s no way he’d rape another man. Or a woman for that matter. It’s just not who he is.”

“I don’t know  _ what  _ to believe him capable of anymore.”

“Well, then trust me. The operation with Dernova and her husband was before I met your father, he had only just started with the CIA when it happened. But, the man I met just a few years later? No way.” She walks up and puts a hand on his knee to get his attention. “If you’re going to talk to him about this, try not to attack him with it accusingly. He’ll shut down on you whether it’s true or not. Just  _ ask _ him.”

Mac nods at her numbly, so she adds, “Do you want me to come with you?”

Mac looks at her, she can see the wheels turning in his head. “No. I need to talk to him by myself. Thank you though.”

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When Mac reaches his dad’s office, the door is ajar and he can see James sitting at his desk pouring over papers. He hesitates without knocking, trying to gage his father’s mood. 

“Are you coming in, Angus? Or were you just guarding the hallway?” He looks up with a smile which fades as he takes in the look on his son’s face. “You alright?”

Mac enters the office and closes the door. “I’m honestly not sure.”

James motions to the seat across the desk from him and leans forward on his desk as Mac sits. “Something I can help with?”

Mac can’t help but chuckle darkly. “I’m not sure about that either.”

“Okay, how about you tell me what’s bothering you and we’ll find out. You talked to Jack, right? Was it something he said?”

Mac doesn’t even think, just blurts it out. “Did your team capture Dernova’s husband alive and then torture him to death for information?”

Whatever James was expecting, it wasn’t that. He huffs out a sigh as he leans back against his chair.

It’s all the answer Mac needs. “You did, didn’t you?” He gets up angrily and James stands almost as fast.

“I wasn’t really a part of that, Mac.”

Mac spins around to face his father. “What do you mean ‘not really’? You only held him down?”

“No!” James yells, then deflates. He motions back to the chair Mac vacated and sits heavily back into his own. “Please let me explain.”

Mac stands still, fuming for a few seconds before the need for answers compels him back to the chair.

James looks more defeated than Mac has ever seen him look. “He  _ was _ captured alive, and yes, he was interrogated for information. I participated in the early portion of questioning. And yes, I hit him a few times, but that’s the extent of what I did to him. Once the others started escalating things, I wanted no part of it.”

“But you didn’t stop them, either. Or report them.”

“No.” James sighs again and looks down at the top of his desk. “I truly wish I had, it’s one of the biggest regrets of my life, letting him die like that. But I was new to the agency. I’d only been hired less than a year before. I didn’t have the clout or connections I do now. It would have been my word against all of theirs. No one would have believed me, it would have ruined my career before it even started, and none of that would’ve brought him back.”

“So you falsified your report to cover for them and pretended it never happened.”

“I tried to, but she wouldn’t let me.”

“She stalked you, and attacked me.”

“I’m so sorry, Angus.” His expression is pained, turning to anger. “I never would have thought she’d attack a baby. When I saw her outside with you, holding you, I lost it. I’m not even sure how many shots I fired at her as she ran, but I scared the hell out of your mom...until she saw you laying on the ground, crying.

“We didn’t know anything about the virus yet and had no  _ idea _ what she had done to you. You started getting sick a couple weeks later. It took the doctors forever to find out what was wrong. They couldn’t understand why you were so anemic. Finally they contacted the CDC to find out if they had any ideas. They sent a doctor who knew about the virus and a whole team of investigators. It was a mess. And she still wouldn’t leave us alone.”

“You kept seeing her.”

“She would show up across the street from my office. When I moved to confront her, she disappeared. She’d be sitting in a car outside your school. I’d look out the window at the house and she’d just be standing there. She haunted me.”

“Then she was in my room.”

James’ head snaps up to look at him surprised. Then nods his head mutely. “She left a stuffed bear on your nightstand with a note. I burned them. And I knew she would never leave us alone. I told my father-in-law, your grandfather and I left you with him and disappeared. Hoping she would follow me, her real target. And it worked, she left you alone.”

“Why didn’t you tell me all this? Last year when I asked why you left, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it would have meant telling you what I allowed to happen to her husband. There’s no way you wouldn’t have asked  _ why _ she’d been coming after me. And then you’d have known that what she did to you, in Syria and when you were a child, was all my fault. I was too ashamed to tell you that.”

It all sounds so plausible. Mac desperately wants to believe him, but then, James was trained to lie convincingly. He’d seen how ruthless his father could be. And James had manipulated him his whole life. Was he doing it again now in order to protect himself? Was he admitting to something less horrific than what he’d actually done so he’d look more like a victim than a villain?

Or was this Dernova manipulating him this time. Driving a wedge between him and his father in order to hurt James some more? 

“You don’t believe me. Do you.” He said it as a statement, looking down. “I suppose I can’t really blame you.”

“I don’t know what I believe right now. You’ve lied to me so often, I don’t know how to believe you. And yet, my other option is to believe a sociopath who enjoys causing pain and tortured me for over a week until I actually started to hope that I wouldn’t wake up again. And then there’s the old adage that there are three sides to every story; person 1’s, person 2’s, and the truth, which is usually somewhere in the middle.”

“I wish there was something I could do to convince you, but I know better now. You need to make your own choice about this. Though if you’ll let me offer one piece of advice?”

Mac looks at him for a moment and then nods, curious.

“Regardless of which one of us you end up deciding to believe. Don’t lose sight of what’s truly important -stopping her from hurting anyone else. Don’t let either of us, or Jack being gone, be a distraction.”

Mac chooses not to respond to his father’s advice. He simply rises and leaves the office without looking back.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope ya'll enjoyed this! I worked really hard on it. Please, please. please let me know what you think in the comments!!


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